Accessibility in the Computer-Aided Translation Tools for English-Arabic Language Pair

Abstract

Computer Aided Translation (CAT) Tools are essential in the current market. However, one ofthe main disadvantages of the most commonly-used CAT tools, like Trados, MemoQ, and more is thatthey are not accessible to visually-impaired translators. This critical disadvantage limits their jobopportunities in the market.Most of the studies that are conducted on the accessibility in CAT tools are for differentlanguage pairs rather than Arabic. In the light of Skopos theory by Hans Vermeer, the current papersheds the light on the accessibility in CAT tools in the Arab market to explore their efficiency for thevisually-impaired professional Arab translators working on the English-Arabic language pair. Thispaper aims to explore how the commonly-used CAT tools are accessible or inaccessible, to what extentthey are compatible with the screen readers, and to suggest alternative CAT tools to be accessible tothe visually-impaired translators and also to be compatible with the commonly-used CAT tools.In order to answer these questions, a quantitative and qualitative questionnaire is designed inorder to be answered by visually-impaired professional Arab translators and students in languageuniversities using CAT tools. At the end of this research, alternative CAT tools are suggested to beaccessible.